It is that time of year again and as we all settle down to watch the Academy Awards honour film's finest let's not forget the hotels that were beautiful backdrops for all those Oscar winning movies.
The hotel industry is Oscar-obsessed this year with The Leading Hotels of the World hosting a glittering Hollywood themed 85th anniversary party at Mr C's Beverly Hills last week, while also unveiling the new LHW in the Moviessection of the website. No surprise that with so many luxurious hotels on its books LHW has managed to find 85 films, 85 hotels and 85 stories to highlight. With the behind the scenes anecdotes from the filming of classics includingMidnight in Paris, Ocean's Eleven, Casino Royale and Pink Panther to name a favoured few.
Leading Hotels' President and CEO Ted Teng says, 'Hollywood writers and directors have long appreciated the mythical qualities of our member hotels, choosing them as backdrops for their films and creating dreams of inspiring locations. For more than eight decades, Leading Hotels have been enabling travelers to live those dreams'.
LHW has also partnered with Italian filmmakers to feature on the big screen in the new film Viaggio Sola ('I Travel Alone'), written and directed by Maria Sole Tognazzi which premieres in Rome in March 2013. The film stars noted Italian actors Marguerita Buy and Stefano Accorsi. The film's main character, Irene, is a Rome-based Hotels inspector who is trying to balance her glamorous work life with her every day problems. The film was shot on location at seven Leading Hotels around the world.
Here are some of our film favourites from the hotels featured in the new 2013/14 LHW Directory.In the new directory look out for the movie camera icon, highlighting hotels with big screen fame.
Budding film comedian's should book into the Peter Sellers suite, with its private Jacuzzi and hamam which was the main the set for the classic film The Pink Panther.
Located on Cape Town's vibrant Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Cape Grace is one of the top hotels in town, and as such as had the pleasure of hosting numerous international celebrities.
Check into this Sir Norman Foster-redesigned Zurich property, which was featured in the acclaimed U.S. version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starring Daniel Craig.
The filmmakers felt that since The Ritz London is a quintessentially British icon, it would be instantly recognizable to international audiences, serving as shorthand for the upscale life of a famous Hollywood star.
In the film our hero (Owen Wilson) is mysteriously whisked back in time to the Paris of the 1920's, where he draws inspiration from artistic heroes like Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso and Stein.
The first of the series, Ocean's Eleven, was filmed entirely in Las Vegas. The team wants to score the biggest heist in history by tapping into the vaults of a trio of iconic Vegas casino - the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand.
Much of Craig's first Bond film (and the 21st in the series) was shot in the Czech Republic, key scenes were set in Venice, and the cast and crew did descend on the canal-side city for a few days of filming.
In Billy Wilder's 1957 comedy, Love in the Afternoon, Audrey Hepburn flirts with Gary Cooper in his suite in the hotel. Hepburn was back nearly ten years later, in 1966, to film How to Steal a Million.
Though the bulk of the film is set in Abu Dhabi , the movie was actually made in Marrakech, Morocco, and came to town looking for the perfect hotel for the characters' exotic, over-the-top getaway.
